DTE Energy Opens its Newest Wind Park, Michigan’s Largest

DTE Energy’s newest wind park, called Pine River and located in mid-Michigan’s Gratiot and Isabella counties, began operation today, providing enough clean energy to power more than 54,000 homes.
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Pine River
Pine River, DTE Energy’s newest wind park, began operation today. // Photo courtesy of DTE Energy

DTE Energy’s newest wind park, called Pine River and located in mid-Michigan’s Gratiot and Isabella counties, began operation today, providing enough clean energy to power more than 54,000 homes.

With 65 turbines, Pine River is the largest operating wind park in Michigan as well as DTE’s most cost-effective and cost-efficient wind project to date.

The park will offset nearly 300,000 metric tons of CO2 annually – the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking more than 63,000 cars off the road for a year – and represents a significant step toward the company’s goals of reducing carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 and reaching 50 percent clean energy through renewables and energy efficiency by 2030.

“DTE was among the first energy companies in the nation to announce a broad sustainability initiative consistent with what scientists say is necessary to address climate change globally and do it in a way that maintains affordability and reliability for our customers,” says Gerry Anderson, chairman and CEO of DTE Energy. “Bringing Pine River online is helping us meet the commitment we’ve made to our customers while contributing to the health of Michigan’s economy. It is our next step in continuing the fundamental transformation of the way we generate power in Michigan, while maintaining our focus on reliability and affordability.”

Since 2009, DTE has driven investments of more than $2.8 billion in renewable energy, and the company will invest an additional $2 billion in renewables over the next five years as it more than doubles its capacity in wind and solar. By 2022, DTE will generate enough energy from renewable resources to power more than 800,000 homes.